Why Terry was fired from Becker..the truth here!
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prometheus1816 — 18 years ago(April 13, 2007 01:53 PM)
No, Denise Crosby ASKED to be let go at the end of season one. She wanted to move on, just like Wil Wheaton did. They did this very same thing to Gates McFadden. They thought they could get rid of Crusher. A huge fan write-in campaign brought her back. HOwever, the same couldn't be said about Terry. They blacklisted her because she stuck up for herself.
"Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head." -Anon -
TrekFan1 — 18 years ago(April 28, 2007 05:51 PM)
Yes, getting fired does suck. Fortunately, Denise was not fired. In reality, she quit because she felt her character wasn't being given a lot to do. Roddenberry actually pleaded with her to remain on the show. Denise later commented that, had there been more scenes like the one between Worf and Tasha at the beginning of "Skin of Evil", she would have considered remaining on the show.
Just setting the record straight. Ya'll can go back to bickering now.
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heywoodj2001 — 18 years ago(April 21, 2007 01:35 AM)
Gates McFadden wasn't fired from Star Trek. She quit the show after season one because she was being sexually harrassed by the executive producer. They let him go after season 2, and then Patrick Stewart asked them to ask McFadden back. She said yes once the dude was gone.
She revealed this about 5 years ago, on the convention circuit.
As for Crosby, I was watching Trek then. She made it seem that she was about to have a big film career, and that it was all about to take off. It seemed like she used Trek as a gateway to bigger and better things. Nothing wrong with that. But once nobody wanted to put her in movies, she came back and asked them to find a way to use her on the show.
On the DVD features, Ronald Moore mentions how ticked off the writers were that they had to write her BACK on the showwhen they'd rearranged their stories and done what they could to get her off the show convincingly in the first place. -
standfan — 18 years ago(December 26, 2007 11:39 AM)
"As for Crosby, I was watching Trek then. She made it seem that she was about to have a big film career, and that it was all about to take off. It seemed like she used Trek as a gateway to bigger and better things. Nothing wrong with that. But once nobody wb68anted to put her in movies, she came back and asked them to find a way to use her on the show."
That's very true. Crosby wanted off of the series to see if she could make it in features, and that just completely fizzled. After that she did everything that she could to shoehorn her way back into the franchise. She basically went to the producers more than once and suggested these wacky ideas to get these little guest spots back on the series. I bet she hoped that Sela would become a semi-regular, or maybe even that the writers would come up with some convoluted way of "resurrecting" Tasha.
The thing is, Crosby's
terrible
as an actress. The only real strong performance that she ever gave on the show was in the episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise". The rest of her re-appearances sucked. She even muddied Leonard Nimoy's guest appearance on the show with her stale acting. -
scs0 — 16 years ago(January 30, 2010 10:22 PM)
Oh like it was hard to write her off the show! TNG was not known for developing its characters. Other than Worf, did any of them have any growth worth mentioning? It's not like they had to tie up any loose ends and story arcs. TNG didn't do that!
Mixing Hollywood idiocy with politics is an Obamanation.
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standfan — 18 years ago(December 26, 2007 11:31 AM)
Gates never really wanted to leave the series. She was being sexually harassed by one of the producers of the show, who's first name is Maurice. When she complained about his behavior, she was more or less told that if she didn't like it she could leave. So she did. When Maurice left the show, she returned.
Gates eventually shared this little bit of information when she was on the convention circuit. She named the producer, indirectly, by saying that the person who did the harrasing was a major player in the show who left following the conclusion of the second year. However, she was "watched" by people from the studio for the first period of time after she left the series, to make sure that she didn't share this information right after she left.
This bit of information was shared by Margaret Wander Bonanno, a Star Trek novelist, who had heard this from multiple trusted sources working on TNG. -
prometheus1816 — 18 years ago(December 26, 2007 04:28 PM)
Thank you for this information. I am to say the least, shocked to read this. I love Gates and was shocked when she wasn't back for season two. And why was she watched? To see if she would 'spill the beans' so-to-speak?
"Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head." -Anon -
standfan — 18 years ago(December 26, 2007 07:53 PM)
I found the bit of information that Margaret had posted, and I will copy and paste the post below verbatim:
"I go to a lot of cons, meet a lot of people. People talk and, based on who they are, I judge their credibility. I was also at a con where Gates was a guest very soon after she left the show, and Paramount sent a minder along so she wouldn't say anything when she was asked. And the fans always asked.
Solow and Justman's book (Inside Star Trek) gives you an idea of the atmosphere on the Trek set as long as GR was around. Gates wasn't the only actress who was told, "Look, sweetie, the Casting Couch is an old Hollywood tradition. That's just the way things are in this town."
It never got to that point, as I understand it. She would be sitting at a table read and suddenly someone's hand would be creeping up her thigh. When she complained to the higher ups, she was told if she was unhappy she could leave. So she left.
Can't imagine what else she might have done."
I guess the "minder" was just some studio dude. The thing is, she may have still been under some contract in her clause where she, at least in the immediate aftermath of her departure, could not discuss anything relating to her leaving. The "minder" might have been there to provide a witness to anything she might say. -
prometheus1816 — 18 years ago(December 27, 2007 12:06 AM)
Thank you for posting this. I really appreciate it.
As for the 'under contract' thing. Most likely when Gates joined the show, she signed the standard five year contract that more or less binds an actor to a studio and or production for the run of the contract. If she left BEFORE that contract was fulfilled, they could have stopped her from working as long as Hurley was on board. Crosby's exit was easier because she asked to be let out of her contract. Gates didn't have a choice and left. I'd love to have seen Hurley doing that to Diana Muldauer. What a laugh that would have been. She'd have punched his lights out.
I heard of that very thing happening to a soap opera actress on a top show. She had to leave because her co-star was making advanced and the atmosphere was getting toxic.
I wish when studios create these contracts, they create them with the ability that there's no harassment when and if these incidents are reported.
Poor Gates. I adore her so much and was sad when she left, but delighted when she came back. Do you know how the cast was when she came back? I mean, were they glad to have her back?
And as for the topic of this thread, I also adored Terry as Jadzia and she had every right to ask for what the other cast members were getting. I'd love to know how much Nana Visitor was making? If more than Terry, where was the fairness? I also adored Jadzia and Worf together and really hoped that he would settle down, as he did. It seemed after they took Jadzia away from him, Michael Dorn was kind of flailing out in the open. I do know Colm Meaney, Armin Shimmerman and Michael supported her. I'm wondering how the other cast members such as Avery Brooks and Rene Auberjonois felt?
"Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head." -Anon -
standfan — 18 years ago(December 27, 2007 01:42 PM)
"I wish when studios create these contracts, they create them with the ability that there's no harassment when and if these incidents are reported."
I agree. I have no idea what kind of contract Gates signed back in '87, or if sexual harassment laws were different then as they are now. I am willing to bet that, likely, she didn't have a single legal thread to stand on to fight it.
I do know that Hurley wanted out of the show, and got Michael Piller to take over his duties. Piller was (sadly, he's dead) a total class act and of course was the spark that turned the show around in the third year.
"Poor Gates. I adore her so much and was sad when she left, but delighted when she came back. Do you know how the cast was when she came back? I mean, were they glad to have her back?"
I do know this: Diana Muldaur does not look back on her experiences on the show fondly. I don't think she "jelled" well with the cast, basically, but she was friends with Roddenberry. She more or less told the production that she wouldn't be available I think for the first three or four episodes of the third season, or something like that. (She more or less had a guest star credit on the show when she was on it, anyway.) When this happened, and of course when Maurice was on his way out, I think that basically set the wheels in motion for Gates to return.
Patrick Stewart was pretty vocal about wanting her back, and I am willing to bet that it's the same situation for basically every single member of the cast. They are
still
close. Gates is the godmother to Brent Spiner's kid, ect. ect. None of what happened has really been spoken of openly. I'm still kind of surprised that not a single member of the cast of TNG has even wrote a happy go-lucky memoir of their experiences on the show. 2000 I think that, to Gates, it's water under the bridge, as she apparently does not speak about this incident at cons anymore - even indirectly as she once did.
"And as for the topic of this thread, I also adored Terry as Jadzia and she had every right to ask for what the other cast members were getting. I'd love to know how much Nana Visitor was making? If more than Terry, where was the fairness? I also adored Jadzia and Worf together and really hoped that he would settle down, as he did. It seemed after they took Jadzia away from him, Michael Dorn was kind of flailing out in the open. I do know Colm Meaney, Armin Shimmerman and Michael supported her. I'm wondering how the other cast members such as Avery Brooks and Rene Auberjonois felt?"
This thread is the first time in which I have read that Farrel was actually paid
less
than the rest of the cast. I personally can't comment on that at all whatsoever. I haven't even read of that offhand, and I kind of classify that strictly as internet rumor. I think the studio picked on Farrel because she was the ringleader of the whole situation. I don't think it was anything else. She was looked upon as the "troublemaker", and Paramount and co. did not like that. I do know this - when they pulled the rest of the cast aside to re-sign them to the final year, by all accounts they gave everyone else fairly substantial raises. They told Farrel that she was going to be paid
the same
for season seven as she had been paid for season six. It was either that or take a hike. But that was in response to her being the troublemaker in the contract re-negotiation, not that she had been receiving less
all along
. That might be where the "paid less" rumor comes from. I think it's a matter of that if she had simply not been the ringleader, she may very well have stayed on the series.
I have never really read anything to the effect about how the DS9 cast felt when she left. They were not close, on the set or otherwise, aside from a few exceptions - like Farrel dating Dorn and Visitor marrying Siddig. I bet that some were upset by it.
BUT
(and this is, as they say, a gigantic
BUT
) if the DS9 cast really turned their backs on her - knowing that they were doing that - how upset could they really be? I don't think any of them were really naive as to what was likely going to happen to Farrel. -
Lee_Voltaire — 16 years ago(July 23, 2009 04:32 AM)
The dude's name is Maurice Hurley.
You can verify it here: http://www.northco.net/~crusher/history2.html
Speaking French does not make me better than ppl who do not. -
standfan — 16 years ago(April 03, 2010 05:59 PM)
I do know that, I just did not want to be the person to write it.
It is good that there are people out there who are actually spreading the truth of the situation to fans, rather than just regurgitating the lies/misinformation that the Paramount PR team has churned out for years. -
scs0 — 16 years ago(January 30, 2010 10:15 PM)
You mean like how Paramount killed off Kes when Jennifer Lein left Voyager or how they killed off Cassidy Yates when the actress left DS9?
DS9 was entering into its last season and the actress' character was a Trill. They'd be failing in their duties as writers to NOT kill her off considering that her chances for reappearing were slim-to-none anyway. Of course they needed to expore this great aspect of being a Trill.
Besides, one of the weak aspects of Star Trek is how they don't kill off major characters. You always know going into an episode that no matter what happens the core cast is safe. That's why a show like Buffy had an extra dimension of reality that Star Trek could never match.Mixing Hollywood idiocy with politics is an Obamanation.
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ifaizer — 15 years ago(July 01, 2010 11:57 PM)
Yeah, cuz in Buffy, they just change the rules whenever they feel like it, and bring characters back from the dead. Angel in Season 3 comes back from hell; Tara was supposed to come back in Season 7, but the actress didn't like how she was initially supposed to be bad, etc. DS9 kicks Buffy's ass.